Health and Health Care Utilization Effects of Medical Debt Forgiveness
2026年4月28日 更新者：Wesley Yin、University of California, Los Angeles
The goal of this study is to estimate the direct, causal impact of medical debt on health care utilization, mental health, and wellbeing of patients.
The investigators will conduct a survey to measure the impact of the debt forgiveness on health care use, mental health, and wellbeing.
The survey will be administered to approximately 17,000 subjects of a recent medical financial intervention.
In that prior intervention, a non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt, purchased and abolished medical debt for a randomly selected about 6,000 (out of the 17,000) individuals.
In this current protocol, the investigators will administer the survey, and will compare surveyed outcomes of subjects who received and did not receive the intervention.
研究概览
详细说明
This study will estimate the direct, causal impact of medical debt on health care utilization, mental health, and wellbeing of patients.
To do so, the investigators will administer a survey to approximately 17,000 subjects of a recent medical financial intervention.
In that intervention, a non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt, purchased and abolished medical debt for a randomly selected about 6,000 (out of the 17,000) study subjects.
In this current protocol, the investigators will compare surveyed outcomes of subjects who received and did not receive the medical debt abolishment intervention.
Because debt abolishment was randomized, comparing surveyed outcomes of treated and control subjects in the cross-section will allow the study to estimate the causal impact of the medical debt abolishment.
The survey will measure the effects of medical debt on three sets of outcomes: (i) health care utilization, as measured by medical care visits, prescription drug utilization and adherence, and unmet need for medical care; (ii) mental health, as measured by validated screens for depression and anxiety; and (iii) subjective wellbeing, as measured by self-reported health, forgone consumption, and financial strain.
This study would be the first to provide a direct, causal connection between the rising personal debt associated with U.S. health care and the health outcomes of its recipients.
研究类型
观察性的
注册 (实际的)
15008
联系人和位置
本节提供了进行研究的人员的详细联系信息，以及有关进行该研究的地点的信息。
学习地点
-
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California
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Los Angeles、California、美国、90095
- Wesley Yin
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参与标准
研究人员寻找符合特定描述的人，称为资格标准。这些标准的一些例子是一个人的一般健康状况或先前的治疗。
资格标准
适合学习的年龄
18年 及以上 (成人、年长者)
接受健康志愿者
是的
取样方法
概率样本
研究人群
The study population is a probability sample drawn from population of individuals who owe medical debt held by FFAM, a debt collection agency.
描述
Inclusion Criteria:
- Individuals ages 18 and over who owed medical debt to FFAM, a debt collections agency
Exclusion Criteria:
- Excluded individuals who owed less than $500 in medical debt to FFAM
- Excluded individuals with missing social security numbers
学习计划
本节提供研究计划的详细信息，包括研究的设计方式和研究的衡量标准。
研究是如何设计的？
设计细节
队列和干预
团体/队列 |
干预/治疗 |
|---|---|
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Treatment
Subjects in this "treatment" group had their medical debt forgiven by a non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt.
This protocol will administer a survey to measure subjects' health care utilization, mental health, and subjective well-being.
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A non-profit charity, RIP Medical Debt, bought and retired medical debt for individuals that were assigned to the treatment group.
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Control
No intervention was given to subjects in this "control" group.
This protocol will administer a survey to measure subjects' health care utilization, mental health, and subjective well-being.
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研究衡量的是什么？
主要结果指标
结果测量 |
措施说明 |
大体时间 |
|---|---|---|
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8-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8) Depression Scale
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Scores on the 8-item Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating greater severity of depression.
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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次要结果测量
结果测量 |
措施说明 |
大体时间 |
|---|---|---|
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Received Needed Health Care
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Binary response to: "If you needed medical care in the last 12 months, did you get ALL the medical care you needed?" (Health Care Utilization domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Received Needed Rx
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Binary response to: "If you needed prescription medications in the last 12 months, did you get all the prescription medications you needed?" (Health Care Utilization domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD7) Scale
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Scores on the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale range from 0 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater severity of anxiety (Mental Health Domain).
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Stress
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Binary response to: "Stress means a situation in which a person feels tense, restless, nervous or anxious or is unable to sleep at night because his/her mind is troubled all the time.
Do you feel this kind of stress these days?"
(Mental Health Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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General Health
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Response to: "In general, would you say your health is: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor?" (General Health Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Happiness
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Response to: "Taken all together, how would you say things are these days - would you say that you are Very Happy, Pretty Happy, or Not Too Happy?" (Subjective Wellbeing Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Problems paying other bills
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Response to: "Besides medical bills, have you had problems paying other types of bills in the past 12 months?"
(Financial Stress Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Changes in spending due to medical debt
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Indexed response to: "As a result of medical bills have you cut back on spending in the past 12 months on i) basic necessities (like food, heat or housing, or other basic household items), ii) Big-ticket items (like cars, furniture, or appliances); iii) business investments?"
(Financial Stress Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Changes in borrowing due to medical debt
大体时间：An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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Indexed response to: "As a result of medical bills, in the past 12 months, have you i) Increased your credit card debt, or charge card debt?
ii) Borrowed money from a payday lender?; iii) Borrowed from friends and family?; iv) Used up all or most of your savings?; v) Increased debt on other lines of credit?" (Financial Stress Domain)
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An average of 12 months after the intervention.
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合作者和调查者
在这里您可以找到参与这项研究的人员和组织。
合作者
调查人员
- 首席研究员：Wesley Yin, PhD、University of California, Los Angeles
研究记录日期
这些日期跟踪向 ClinicalTrials.gov 提交研究记录和摘要结果的进度。研究记录和报告的结果由国家医学图书馆 (NLM) 审查，以确保它们在发布到公共网站之前符合特定的质量控制标准。
研究主要日期
学习开始 (实际的)
2020年11月9日
初级完成 (实际的)
2021年12月31日
研究完成 (实际的)
2021年12月31日
研究注册日期
首次提交
2021年3月27日
首先提交符合 QC 标准的
2021年4月4日
首次发布 (实际的)
2021年4月8日
研究记录更新
最后更新发布 (实际的)
2026年4月30日
上次提交的符合 QC 标准的更新
2026年4月28日
最后验证
2026年4月1日
更多信息
与本研究相关的术语
其他研究编号
- IRB#20-001700
计划个人参与者数据 (IPD)
计划共享个人参与者数据 (IPD)？
是的
IPD 计划说明
We will make de-identified and restricted data available to the research community through portals such as the publicly accessible Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (hosted by the University of Michigan).
We will preserve the confidentiality of study participants and protect personal health information by stripping the data of personally identifying information and purging it of all personal health information, and any information that is sufficiently fine so that it could identify individuals.
We will follow standard protocols, such as converting specific dates to relative dates or date intervals, and aggregating small cells.
This will allow us to maximize the data available to researchers while strictly preserving confidentiality and privacy.
IPD 共享时间框架
De-identified and confidential IPD will be made available by the on-line publication date of published research.
IPD 共享访问标准
Access will be limited to researchers for non-commercial uses.
Users will also need to certify that no attempt will be made to re-identify participants from the de-identified data.
IPD 共享支持信息类型
- 树液
- 国际碳纤维联合会
- 分析代码
药物和器械信息、研究文件
研究美国 FDA 监管的药品
不
研究美国 FDA 监管的设备产品
不
此信息直接从 clinicaltrials.gov 网站检索，没有任何更改。如果您有任何更改、删除或更新研究详细信息的请求，请联系 register@clinicaltrials.gov. clinicaltrials.gov 上实施更改，我们的网站上也会自动更新.